29 December 2005

i knew the name loud family, but for some reason free association led me to "sunny day real estate," which might not be so wrong considering that i don't know all that much about them either. but a check at amg reminded me that loud family is the project of scott miller, formerly of game theory. game theory : the mention of that band's name--and, indeed, of the album the posted track comes from--reminds me that, despite my own studiousness, intelligence--or, rather, knowledge is never something i actively look for in a band. i made that distinction b/c bob dylan came to mind, who is intelligent, but probably doesn't know a lot about optimality.

scott miller does, though. let's make it clear : i don't hold such things against him. stephin merritt probably knows a whole lot of junk, too. only his references are couched in things i do actively look for in a band, like song structure and melody, things that any fan of power pop, as i understand miller is, should be well-versed in. yet several listens to "nice when i want something" give me v. little to grasp on to--no hooks, no choruses, nothing but a whole lot of guitar noodling, and if i want that, i'll go listen to some other big star fans, teenage fanclub. there are probably intelligent things being said, things learned from reading books, but i'd rather hear a song about reading books, like many belle & sebastian songs, not about the things found in them, and esp. not things found in law books, otherwise i'd have gone ahead w/ law school.

after what i've said, it should at least be clear that i don't want anything from the band, though i would have preferred if i could have said nice things about them. after all, jonhope is a good fellow and a friend to this site; i hope he can forgive me for what i say about loud family, or at least balance out his ire w/ thanks for posting the track. and, you know, maybe this song isn't representative of the band; maybe i'd quite like another of their songs, it being my belief, after all, that every band is capable of writing at least one great song; and maybe i should listen to some game theory. but the statistical probability of that is low.

so i've straightened out the loud family, and that's all settled. ... but who is hunters & collectors?

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Thanks, Fred! Don't worry about offending me (or my tastes) by being indifferent to the Loud Family. Somehow I thought you'd like them, but to be honest with you I don't like them much myself. A college dj did a two hour special on Scott Miller's music, and I taped it off the radio, listened to it diligently, and the only song that stood out for me was "Nice When I Want Something" (mostly because of the drums). Thanks again for posting it. I can't recommend anything else to you by the Loud Family or Game Theory. Jon Harrison (at the blog Little Hits) may feel differently, but I remain -- jonhope

Whoa, Fred, I think you're being a little hasty here. I like Teenage Fanclub but I think Scott Miller's bands are way better. Try "Aerodeliria," "Soul Drain," "Jimmy Still Comes Around," "Rose of Sharon," "Chardonnay." The best example of his songwriting is probably "Inverness." Try Aimee Mann's cover of that one, maybe?